All Forum Posts by: Mary Joe

 $60K condo can get you about 1100-1300 a month in rent???    What kind of neighborhood is that?    I will do it in split seconds if it is in a middle class neighborhood !

Hi All

Is it a bad idea to pay off mortgage early?   Not from a TAX perspective but from a legal exposure perspective. 

I am thinking if people see that there is still a mortgage on the property, they will less likely  come after you with frivolous lawsuits.   Does it make sense or it doesn't really matter?

My preference is to pay off the mortgage early, but may hold off if the mortgage can actually help reduce unnecessary lawsuits from tenants or anyone. 

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks for your post, it just reminds me that I have to ask  my contractor to remove the existing ceiling fan.  Guess I am probably the only person who does want want ceiling fans in my rental.

As a landlord, my #1 priority is to reduce liability. One lawsuit can easily wipe out everything I have.  

I am always worried that the ceiling fan was not installed correctly, last thing I want is for the fan to fall on my tenant's head. 

A rental is a liability generating asset, there are a lot of things we can do to reduce our exposure, even something as basic as a ceiling fan. 

Hi All

Sorry need some last minute tax advice. 

I have a rental property that is used 100% as an investment,  rented  out the whole year, no personal use at all. 

Do I deduct property tax on Schedule E (rental income/exp) or Schedule A (itemized deductions)?        Both schedules (E and A) ask me to enter amount of property tax I paid during the year. 

Thanks

Hi All

Has anyone tried Realtyshares (as an investor)?  

What does one do if the loan defaults? Will Realtyshares handle the foreclosure proceedings on behalf of the investors or do I have to actually go through the nightmare of foreclosing on the property myself?

Would appreciate any feedback. 

Thanks.

I am new to this,  am very interested in learning more about notes as an investment as opposed to being a landlord. 

Can someone post a few links for newbies so that I can better understand the basics of note investing? 

I am near Newark but not sure if I want to spend $249 to register for the NoteWorthy Summit at this point. 

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.

After doing some reading on Prosper and Lending Club, even though I think they are great alternatives to traditional CDs,  one thing that worries me a lot is that these business models are the perfect PONZI schemes. 

Just imagine how easy it is to create a massive number of fake borrowers on the website ....

@Eva Salas 

 Thanks Eva,  keep me posted about note buying and let me know whether it is worth getting into,  I know you can get much higher returns with notes.  I just need to find the time to educate myself the process and decide if this is something that is suitable for me.   

@Kelly Foydl  @Mitchell Jaworski 

THANKS for the feedback,  I saw from Prosper if I go with their highest rating portfolios (ie better quality borrowers), the rate of return is about 5% which is way higher than what my bank gives me.    It also appeals to me that I can start with very little money, so I might very well give this a try and see how it works out.

Of course, I do realize that some of these loans will default, so like you said, I am playing the odds of averages in the portfolio which is a risk I am prepared to take.    This is a concept I can understand,  whereas if I am to invest in real estate notes or hard lending, I honestly do not know how  to recoup my investment should the borrower defaults,  I suppose I may have to foreclose on the property and I know nothing about the process.   

I still love real estate and don't mind being a landlord, but it is getting very difficult for me to find a property that meets my criteria nowadays.

Thanks again for the feedback !!!

@Eva Salas 

 No, it is not related to real estate, google "crowdfunding prosper" and you will see, basically you act as the bank and you reduce your risk by being able to easily acquire a large number of loan portfolios.   I suppose you can do the same with real estate notes but somehow real estate notes never really appeal to me because I do not know what is the process involved when the borrower defaults. 

I am just looking for other options besides being a landlord.   I don't mind being a landlord, it takes some work but nothing that I can't handle, the problem is where to find the next profitable property that makes sense for my needs.